Asylum Seekers: Children

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many children are currently detained in asylum removal centres.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The number of children detained with their families solely under Immigration Act powers will change from day to day. However, internal management information shows that, as at 20 February 2006, there were 37 children detained with their families under Immigration Act powers; all of them at Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre. This figure is not broken down into asylum and non-asylum cases. These individuals were all detained as part of families whose detention as a group was considered necessary.
	The latest published information relates to persons detained as at 24 September 2005. There were 75 persons recorded as being under 18 detained as at 24 September 2005 who had claimed asylum at some stage. This figure is rounded to the nearest five.
	Information on the number of persons detained, broken down by those who are under 18 years of age, is published in the Quarterly Asylum Bulletin, on the Home Office research development and statistics directorate website at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

Autism

The Countess of Mar: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What financial and practical assistance is available from the Department for Work and Pensions to parents of children and young adults suffering with autistic spectrum disorders.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The parents of children and young people with autistic spectrum disorders can qualify for the full range of social security benefits if they satisfy the rules which govern entitlement. They are also entitled to the disabled child element of the child tax credit if their child is under 16 years of age, or under the age of 19 if in full-time education, and receives a disability living allowance to help with their disability-related extra costs. In addition they are entitled to the severely disabled child element of the child tax credit if the child receives the disability living allowance care component at the highest rate. These elements are paid in addition to the child element of the child tax credit for each child or young person in a family.
	A parent who regularly spends at least 35 hours a week caring for a severely disabled child or young person who receives either the middle rate or the highest rate of the disability living allowance care component may also be entitled to a carer's allowance and, if they are receiving income-related benefits, to a carer premium.

Autism: Northern Ireland

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Rooker on 14 June 2005 (WA 119), what is their current estimate of the number of people with autism spectrum disorder in Northern Ireland; and how many children and young people with the disorder will not benefit from the establishment of multidisciplinary teams.

Lord Rooker: Currently, there is no official prevalence rate for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Northern Ireland.
	All children and young people referred for ASD assessment will benefit from the establishment of the multidisciplinary diagnostic, assessment and early intervention teams.

Benefits: Attendance Allowance

Lord Sutherland of Houndwood: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many older people in Scotland were receiving attendance allowances at the time of the introduction by the Scottish Executive of care for the elderly free at the point of delivery; and
	What was the net saving to the responsible government department which resulted from the elimination of eligibility to claim attendance allowances as a consequence of the introduction of care for the elderly free at point of delivery by the Scottish Executive in 2001.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: Free personal care for people aged 65 or over was introduced in Scotland from I July 2002. We do not have a figure for the numbers of people receiving attendance allowance in Scotland at that date. I can, however, supply the figure for May 2002, which, to the nearest hundred, was 142,300.
	The requested information regarding the net saving to the responsible government department from the elimination of eligibility to claim attendance allowance is not available. I can, however, provide some general information about the position.
	The rules governing the payment of attendance allowance and the care component of disability living allowance preclude the payment of these benefits to people in care homes who have been receiving help with their care home costs from public funds for more than four weeks. Such help includes the £145 per week payments that local authorities in Scotland make to people aged 65 or over in care homes under the free personal care arrangements introduced by the Scottish Executive in July 2002.
	We estimate that since that date, receipt of those payments has resulted in the withdrawal of attendance allowance or the care component of disability living allowance from some 6,400 care home residents in Scotland. At current benefit rates, we estimate that the maximum annual cost of continuing to pay the benefits to those residents would be about £20 million.

British Citizenship: Hong Kong and India

Lord Avebury: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Why they did not notify the Lord Avebury of the reply dated 27 January from the Indian authorities to questions they had asked about the effects of Indian citizenship law, or the amendments subsequently made to the Nationality Instruction Chapter 14 Annex H, providing that a minor of Indian origin who was registered as a British national (overseas) in Hong Kong was entitled to register as a British citizen, as proposed at a meeting with the then Immigration Minister Des Browne on 2 February 2005 and in correspondence with several Ministers since then.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: My honourable friend the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Nationality did notify the noble Lord, by letter dated 6 February, of the reply received from the Indian authorities and that the necessary changes to the nationality instructions were going to be made. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

British Citizenship: Hong Kong and India

Lord Avebury: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will register as a British citizen by descent under Section 3(1) of the British Nationality Act 1981, on application, any minor child born to a person who (a) has been refused British citizenship or (b) failed to apply in the past, if they meet the following criteria (i) the child's father or mother has now been registered as a British citizen otherwise than by descent under the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1997; (ii) the parent in question had at least one parent who was a citizen of India at the time of the parent in question's birth; (iii) the parent in question was a minor immediately before 4 February 1997; and (iv) the child was born after 30 June 1997 but before the parent in question had been registered under the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1997.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: We would prefer not to base our policy on the application of notional registration dates and it seems unnecessary to do so. Most of those about whom the noble Lord expresses concern will have acquired British overseas citizenship at birth on the basis that their parents were British nationals (overseas) and the children would otherwise have been stateless. Such British overseas citizens are likely to have an entitlement to registration as a British citizen under Section 4B of the 1981 Act.

British Citizenship: Hong Kong and India

Lord Avebury: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Why, at a recent meeting in Hong Kong, the British Consul General said that no mistake was made in refusing the citizenship applications of solely British ethnic minorities of Indian descent; and which change in Indian citizenship law the British Consul General was referring to in indicating that the Indian law, as applied on 4 February 1997, had changed.

Lord Triesman: There has not been an error on the part of the British authorities in applying the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1997. The decisions in question refer to applicants who were deemed not to be solely British nationals on the basis of information provided by the Indian Government in 1997-98 under Indian citizenship law. Under the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1997, possession of another citizenship immediately before 4 February 1997 rendered individuals ineligible for British citizenship. Consequently, the applicants in question were deemed not to have met the criteria, as set out in the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1997, and therefore could not be registered as British citizens.
	The British Consul General referred not to a change in Indian nationality law but to the change in the Indian authorities' interpretation of its law which the Home Office received on 27 January 2006. The change in interpretation contradicted the advice we had previously received from the Indian authorities in 1997-98. This change in Indian interpretation means that many of the applicants, previously deemed not to be solely British nationals, may now be considered as solely British nationals. They therefore may now meet the criteria as set out in the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1997 to become British citizens.

British Citizenship: Hong Kong and India

Lord Avebury: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Why, when the average processing time for new applications under the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1997 stated on the Home Office website is four months, the British Consul General indicated at a recent meeting in Hong Kong that it would take 18 to 24 months.

Lord Triesman: The Home Office website states that four months is the average length of time to process all application types. Applications under the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1997 take comparatively longer to process given the particular requirements that need to be satisfied. The advice from the British Consul General in Hong Kong in his interview with a Hong Kong journalist on 9 February, referring to the Consulate General's website, was that applications for British citizenship can take up to 18 months or longer to be processed.
	On 16 February, at the consulate's initiative, the Consul General and members of his staff held a meeting with members of the local Indian/British community. The purpose of the meeting was to answer questions about the impact of the clarification of Indian and Nepalese citizenship laws by those countries and the effect that these clarifications might have on the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1997. This initiative was welcomed by the community and the Consulate General is now working to facilitate applications and answer any further questions.

British Citizenship: Hong Kong and India

Lord Avebury: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the British citizenship applications of solely British ethnic minorities of Indian descent made between 1997 and 2005 were lawfully refused.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: Under the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1997, possession of another citizenship immediately before 4 February 1997 renders the applicant ineligible for British citizenship. We rely on other governments for advice on the matter of possession of another citizenship. Decisions in the cases to which the noble Lord refers were taken on the basis of information provided by the Indian Government. They had assured us that the affected people held Indian citizenship. On the basis of this information we believed that it was correct (and indeed that we were required) to refuse the applications.
	The Indian Government have now reviewed the matter, however, and have indicated to us that the relevant people did not hold Indian citizenship. On that basis, these people do and did in fact qualify for British citizenship. It therefore now appears that the applications were wrongly refused.
	We estimate that 600 applications were refused on the basis of the Indian Government's original information, mostly dating from the period July 1997 to June 1999. Where the applicant in such cases confirms that he or she still wishes to receive British citizenship the decision will be reconsidered. No additional fee will be payable by the applicant in such cases.

Crime: Railway Stations

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many offences against the person were recorded at railway stations in England and Wales, including London Underground stations, in each of the past eight years, broken down by category of offences.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The number of offences against the person recorded by British Transport Police (BTP) in each financial year since 1998–99 is given in the table below.
	Information has not been provided for 1997–98 as there was a change in counting rules in April 1998, introduced by the Home Office, which makes any comparison with data prior to that date not meaningful.
	
		
			 Offence Category 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
			 Violence against the person offences 5,184 5,842 5,856 5,755 7,111 8,096 9,131 
			 Sexual offences 1,185 1,079 1,009 1,020 1,003 1,120 1,202 
			 Robbery offences 2,136 2,372 2,648 3,354 2,240 2,541 2,008 
			 Theft of passenger property offences 18,346 25,323 22,741 23,710 31,151 30,190 27,655 
		
	
	In reading the figures it should be noted that the Home Office introduced a national crime recording standard (NCRS) that all police forces across England and Wales were required to adopt. BTP adopted this standard on 1 April 2002. The impact of the new recording standard saw an increase in recorded crime nationally.

Crime: Railway Stations

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether there is a correlation between the level of staffing at railway stations, including London Underground, and the number of attacks reported.

Lord Davies of Oldham: Data are not collected in this format.

Department for Transport: BAA

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether Ministers or officials from the Department for Transport have had contact with representatives of BAA regarding a possible takeover of the company; and, if so, (a) on what dates the contact occurred; (b) what was the nature of the communication; (c) which Ministers or officials were involved; and (d) which representatives from BAA were involved.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The Government are following the market activity around the ownership of BAA and will maintain appropriate contact with relevant parties as part of this.

Detention Centres

Baroness D'Souza: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they are in any way assisting the operation of secret detention centres in Eastern Europe or elsewhere.

Lord Triesman: No.

Detention Centres

Baroness D'Souza: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they are aware of any detention centres to which the International Committee of the Red Cross is denied immediate access; and, if so, which such centres are.

Lord Triesman: The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is granted access on request to all detention centres operated by British authorities. The question of ICRC access to detention centres operated by the authorities of other governments is a confidential matter between the ICRC and those governments.

EU: Budget

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What the United Kingdom's gross and net contributions to the European Union budget will be in each year from 2007 to 2013.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: Based on the European Commission's forecasts and assumptions, and using the financial perspective table agreed on 17 December 2005, Treasury estimates for: the UK's gross contribution to the EC budget, the abatement, UK receipts and the UK net contribution to the EC budget are:
	
		
			  Gross contribution before abatement Abatement Receipts Net contribution 
			 2007 -14.2 3.9 5.6 -4.7 
			 2008 -14.6 4.6/4.7 5.2 -4.6/-4.7 
			 2009 -13.7 4.8/4.9 4.2 -4.6/-4.7 
			 2010 -14.4 3.8/3.9 4.6 -6.0/-6.1 
			 2011–13 -14.1/-14.5 3.5/4.1 4.2 -6.0/-6.8 
		
	
	(figures are in billions of pounds, 2004 prices (payments))
	As the Prime Minister said in his Statement to the House on 19 December, while the UK's net contribution will rise over the next financing period compared to 2000-06, France and Italy's contribution will rise twice as fast. The abatement will also rise, not fall. The UK's actual financing share, receipts and abatement are all dependent on a number of variables, including the actual rate of spending in each policy area in each member state, and the pound-euro exchange rate.

Government Computer Systems: Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

Lord Harris of Haringey: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	On how many occasions in each of the past two years malicious programs have compromised computer systems in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister; and for each such occasion (a) how many machines were affected; (b) how long it took to remove the programs from the system; and (c) what the impact was on the activities of the department.

Baroness Andrews: In the past two years, from available records, only one computer system at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has been compromised by malicious programs, such as worms, viruses and so on, on one occasion. On this occasion only one machine was affected. The malicious programs were removed as soon as practicable, and did not have any impact on the day-to-day running of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's operations. It should be noted that the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's computer systems are delivered via a Department for Transport system as a shared service. I refer the noble Lord to the Answer given by my noble friend the Lord Davies of Oldham on 16 February 2006 (Official Report, col. WA 195–6).

Heathrow Airport: Security

Viscount Waverley: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What were the measures which the European Union security team recently insisted should be implemented immediately at Heathrow Airport.

Lord Davies of Oldham: It would not be appropriate to set out the details of security measures in place at Heathrow Airport.

Imported Gifts: Travellers' Allowance

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What the normal travellers' allowance for gifts imported into the United Kingdom has been in each year since 1997.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: European Council Directive 69/169/EEC sets a tax and duty free allowance for all travellers bringing goods (excluding wine, spirits, tobacco and perfume) for personal use, including those received as gifts, from outside the EU into the UK.
	When the directive was first agreed in 1969, the allowance was set at €45 (£36). In 1994 it was increased to €175 (£136), and the UK conversion was revalorised from £136 to £145 in 1995 to reflect exchange rate changes. Since then the allowance has not been revised.

Judges: Long-service Awards

Lord Fowler: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will set out the details of the long-service awards which will become payable to judges; including the amounts which will be paid depending on years of service and judicial grade.

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: The service award will be based on length of service and grade.
	For members of the judicial pension scheme under the Judicial Pensions and Retirement Act 1993, the service award will be 3/80th of pensionable salary for each year of service, up to the maximum of 20.
	For office holders in a scheme under the Judicial Pensions Act 1981, the corresponding fraction will be 3/90th or 4/90th of pensionable salary for each year of service up to the maximum of 20 or 15 respectively, depending on the office held.
	Each award will be calculated in relation to the individual circumstances.

Licensing Act 2003

Lord Avebury: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What powers under the Licensing Act 2003 local licensing authorities have to reject an application for a temporary events licence on the grounds that it is due to be held in an unsafe location; that children are to be invited to the events without the consent of their parents; that a risk of overcrowding could arise; that it would involve the use of hazardous chemicals, fireworks or dangerous implements, or that no, or inadequate, first aid facilities are to be provided respectively.

Lord Davies of Oldham: Temporary events are subject to the normal health and safety and planning legislation, and the giving of a temporary event notice means that the authorities are aware of such an event and can take action where appropriate using their powers under the relevant legislative provisions. Beyond that, local licensing authorities have no powers under the Licensing Act 2003 to issue a counter-notice citing the reasons given by the noble Lord.

National Lottery

Viscount Eccles: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What proportion of grants made by the Big Lottery Fund, broken down by value and number, have been made to registered charities; and
	What proportion of the approvals by the Big Lottery Fund, broken down by value and number, have been made to registered charities.

Lord Davies of Oldham: I understand that the information requested is not recorded separately for registered charities.

National Lottery

Viscount Eccles: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What percentage by value and by number of the grants approved by the Big Lottery Fund since June 2004 is to be made to (a) local authorities; (b) bodies forming part of the National Health Service; and (c) other public bodies accountable to Parliament.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The Big Lottery Fund is the operating name of the National Lottery Charities Board and the New Opportunities Fund, both executive non-departmental public bodies, working jointly together pursuant to the administrative merger in June 2004.
	The Community Fund gave no such grants during this period. The information for the New Opportunities Fund is not available in the form requested but details of balances payable to local authorities, bodies forming part of the National Health Service and other public bodies accountable to Parliament are given on page 96 of their annual report and accounts 2004-05.

Official Gifts: Home Office

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Which gifts received overseas by Ministers within the Home Office since 2000 have been declared to H M Revenue and Customs on return to the United Kingdom as being over the normal travellers' allowances.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: I refer the noble Lord to the Answer given by my noble friend the Lord Bassam on 16 February, Official Report, col. WA 202.

Olympic Games 2012: Budget

Lord Jopling: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	To what extent the published budget for the London 2012 Olympic Games still holds good; whether they remain confident that it will be sufficient; and what provision they intend to make to cover an overrun.

Lord Davies of Oldham: We are committed to robust cost management of the London 2012 Olympic Games. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has therefore commissioned KPMG to provide ongoing advice on the costs. Its work will inform our strategy for managing the Olympic project; and the costs will be kept under constant scrutiny.
	We will make every effort to avoid cost overruns.

Pensions: Judges

Lord Fowler: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Statement by the Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 15 December 2005 (WS 83), how many judges will be affected by the announced changes in pension arrangements.

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: All serving and future judges, as members of the judicial pension schemes, will be affected (there were 2,073 active scheme members as at 31 January 2006).

Pensions: Judges

Lord Fowler: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Statement by the Baroness Ashton of Upholland on 9 February (Official Report, col. 768), what was the basis on which the cost of the new pension arrangements for judges was estimated at £9 million a year.

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: Overall, the estimated annual cost of the new pension arrangements to the DCA is around £9.2 million.
	Based on estimated future retirement patterns, the cost of the service award is estimated at about £6.7 million for 2006–07.
	In addition, there is an estimated reduction of £2.5 million per annum in income to the schemes through the proposed reduction in member contributions.
	There will be no net cost to the Exchequer as these costs will be directly offset by a reduced liability for Her Majesty's Government to pay tax relief on the contributions payable by judicial office holders and by additional income tax and national insurance contributions payable in respect of the retirement lump sum and service award.

Pensions: Judges

Lord Fowler: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is the maximum amount which could be paid as a long service award to a judge upon retirement.

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: For members of a judicial pension scheme under the Judicial Pensions Act 1981, the maximum amount that could be payable is an amount equivalent to two-thirds of annual salary. For those under the Judicial Pensions and Retirement Act 1993, the maximum amount is three-quarters of pensionable salary; that is, the element of salary under the scheme in Part 1 of the Act.

Schools: Hours

Baroness Walmsley: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many schools are currently operating extended hours of 8 am to 6 pm.

Lord Adonis: We have data on the number of schools offering access to extended services from a baseline survey of maintained schools published in September 2005. While a very low proportion of schools are providing childcare from 8 am to 6 pm all year round, 87 per cent of primary and 95 per cent of secondary schools provide some form of childcare or activities outside of normal school hours; 69 per cent of primary and 66 per cent of secondary schools provide some form of parenting support; and 75 per cent of primary schools and 97 per cent of secondary schools provide wider community access to their facilities such as sports, arts and ICT facilities. This is a very strong baseline to build on and we will continue to monitor progress.
	We have committed £840 million to developing extended services, including high quality 8 am to 6 pm all-year-round childcare, study support and before-and-after school clubs so that they are accessible through all our schools by 2010. We have also appointed the national remodelling team to provide support to schools and local authorities in developing extended services. Good progress is being made with over 5,000 schools, thus far, indicating their willingness to work on developing extended services.

Taxation: Income Tax

Lord Forsyth of Drumlean: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	For the latest year for which figures are available, what assessment they have made of the total cost of administering personal income tax in the United Kingdom.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: Administering personal income tax is not done in isolation but forms part of the wider cost of administering the PAYE and self assessment systems which, for example, also collected national insurance contributions, administer a variety of statutory payments and recover student loans. The former Inland Revenue's estimated gross expenditure on these PAYE and SA systems was around £1.7 billion for the year ending 31 March 2005.

Television Licences: Mobile Phones

Viscount Astor: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether a mobile telephone that receives (a) analogue; (b) digital; or (c) satellite television requires a United Kingdom television licence.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The BBC, as licensing authority, has responsibility for interpreting the television licensing legislation and determining licensing requirements in individual cases. However, a television licence is required to install or use any apparatus for the purpose of receiving any television programme service, whether by means of wireless telegraphy or otherwise and whether or not it is installed or used for any other purpose. The definition of a television programme service encompasses analogue, digital and satellite television services.

Television Licences: Mobile Phones

Viscount Astor: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether a mobile telephone that receives United Kingdom television signals is covered by the owner's domestic television licence or whether a separate licence is required.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The BBC, as licensing authority, has responsibility for interpreting the television licensing legislation and determining licensing requirements in individual cases. However, a television licence permits the licensee or a person normally living with the licensee at the licensed address to use a television receiver powered solely by its own internal batteries anywhere in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man.

Transport: Rural Bus Services

Lord Patten: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How much of the increased funding made available to the national transport budget will go towards the extension of rural bus services, expressed in (a) monetary, and (b) percentage terms.

Lord Davies of Oldham: Total public expenditure on transport services, across the UK, rose in real terms by 67 per cent between 1997–98 and 2004–05.
	Local authorities fund the majority of their support for bus services, including those in rural areas, from their revenue support grant allocations from government. Decisions on which services to support—and by how much—are a matter for individual local authorities and no statistics are kept centrally on total support for services that are specifically rural. Over £300 million was spent on bus support by local authorities in England outside London in 2004–05, an increase of 43 per cent in real terms since 1997.
	Local authority bus expenditure includes that met from rural bus subsidy grant (RBSG) provided to authorities by the department to help maintain and improve rural bus services. RBSG has totalled £340 million since its introduction in 1998. The total allocation for 2005–06 is £53 million, a 41 per cent increase in real terms compared with 1998–99. In addition, we have since 1998–99 allocated a total of £114 million in Rural Bus Challenge and Kickstart funding for rural areas.

Treasury: BAA

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether Ministers or officials from H M Treasury have had contact with representatives of BAA regarding a possible takeover of the company; and, if so, (a) on what dates the contact occurred; (b) what was the nature of the communication; (c) which Ministers or officials were involved; and (d) which representatives from BAA were involved.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: The Government are following the market activity around the ownership of BAA and will maintain appropriate contact with relevant parties as part of this.

Universities: Science Undergraduates

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many university students of scientific subjects have left university before graduating in each year since 1997 for which figures are available.

Lord Adonis: Since 1996-97, information on non-completion rates for higher education students has been published annually by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and, latterly, by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) in Performance Indicators in Higher Education. This report includes a table showing the non-continuation rates of young entrants following their year on entry for each subject group, and the latest version (covering entrants in 2002–3) is available from the HESA website at www.hesa.ac.uk/pi/0304/continuation.htm. Figures for previous years are available from the HESA website (for 2001–02) and the HEFCE website www.hefce.ac.uk (for earlier years).

VAT: Works of Art

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What are the prevailing rates of VAT levied on sales of United Kingdom works of art; whether there are any proposals to increase those rates; and, if so, under what legal authority.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: Works of art that are traded domestically within the United Kingdom are subject to standard rate of 17.5 per cent VAT, introduced in 1991. Works of art imported into the United Kingdom from places outside the European Union are taxed an effective reduced rate of 5 per cent, introduced in 1999. Works of art removed to the United Kingdom from other EC member states are, where VAT falls due, taxed at the standard rate of 17.5 per cent.
	There are no proposals to change these rates.

VAT: Works of Art

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the European Court of Justice has decided that VAT of 17.5 per cent should in future apply to works of art imported from outside the European Union for sale in the United Kingdom; and, if so, what was the legal basis for that decision.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: I believe that the noble Lord's Question refers to a recent judgment by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) involving a dispute between the United Kingdom and the European Commission. The dispute did not concern the rate of VAT payable on works of art imported from outside the European Union into the United Kingdom. The effective rate of VAT on such imports remains 5 per cent. The case concerned the United Kingdom's treatment of fees charged by auctioneers in connection with the sales of those works of art in cases where the goods were held within temporary importation arrangements. The United Kingdom took the view that the fees charged in such cases were also subject to the effective reduced rate of VAT. The European Commission challenged this view.
	The ECJ ruled that auctioneers' fees relating to sales of works of art within the temporary import regime must be taxed at the standard rate of VAT. The ruling applies only to auctioneers' fees, the rate of VAT charged in respect of the goods themselves is unaffected. The legal basis for the ECJ's ruling decision is rather complex, and is detailed in its published decision.

Vehicles: Abnormal Loads

Earl Attlee: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Which organisations they have tasked to enforce or encourage compliance with the code of practice for the escorting of abnormal loads.

Lord Davies of Oldham: No organisations have been specifically tasked with enforcing the Code of Practice for the Self-Escorting of Abnormal Loads and Abnormal Vehicles, because it is a voluntary standard. The Association of Chief Police Officers and the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland endorse its use and the major haulage associations encourage their members to comply with this best practice standard.